<div dir="ltr">The Grok Learning challenge run by Sydney University NCSS is probably the best entry point for Python. We register the year 10's. Nice thing about the online tutorials is that the lessons are staged in bite (sic) sized chunks that you can track online. The help desk is good and gives practical feedback when kids are stuck. Can be done on any device, even an iPad. For my of my year 10 IT class, it was their first introduction to serious programming after Scratch.<div><br></div><div><a href="https://groklearning.com">https://groklearning.com</a><br></div><div><br></div><div>At the start of November we will be trying out the Grok Code Quest that explores programming the BBC micro:bit with Python 3. I saw this being showcased at a programming conference in Melbourne about a month ago. Nice how it connected coding with raw circuits and the real world.</div><div><br></div><div><a href="https://groklearning.com/course/microbit-starter/">https://groklearning.com/course/microbit-starter/</a><br></div><div><br></div><div>The reference that I made to Programming within Minecraft is detailed here. It uses the Raspberry Pi 3 computer. Very cool .. we just bought a set to use with the televisions in our Learning Commons. A couple of kids couldn't wait and just purchased their own units.</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.raspberrypi-spy.co.uk/category/python/">http://www.raspberrypi-spy.co.uk/category/python/</a><br></div><div><br></div><div>Share and enjoy</div><div><br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On 21 October 2016 at 18:56, Mark Schumann <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:mark.schumann@yvg.vic.edu.au" target="_blank">mark.schumann@yvg.vic.edu.au</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
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<div style="direction:inherit">Hi Roland,</div>
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<div style="direction:inherit">Yes we do use python in year 10 but have stuck with VB in 11 and 12 mainly for the easy GUI functionality. Happy to be enlightened further though! :)</div>
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<div style="direction:inherit">Mark</div><span class="">
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On 21 Oct. 2016, at 5:10 pm, Roland Gesthuizen <<a href="mailto:rgesthuizen@gmail.com" target="_blank">rgesthuizen@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
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<div dir="ltr">No disrespect intended and I know that a can of worms may open when I say this but have you considered moving to teaching Python? It is free and there are more teaching resources than you can poke a stick at. This year I am really proud of the
coding that my girls did this year with the Grok Learning Challenge and my year 10 group is exploring how to trigger events inside Minecraft with Python :-)
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<div>There is a place for old programming languages, check out this NASA post. I have been away from Fortran far too long .. (sigh) </div>
<div><a href="http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a17991/voyager-1-voyager-2-retiring-engineer/" target="_blank">http://www.popularmechanics.<wbr>com/space/a17991/voyager-1-<wbr>voyager-2-retiring-engineer/</a><br>
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<div class="gmail_quote"><span class="">On 21 October 2016 at 12:55, Mark Schumann <span dir="ltr">
<<a href="mailto:mark.schumann@yvg.vic.edu.au" target="_blank">mark.schumann@yvg.vic.edu.au</a>></span> wrote:<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Hi all,<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">We have some programming workbooks for Visual Basic that include various tutorial exercises and projects, but they’re starting to show their age. Does anyone have any more recent recommendations to use as
a class set of resources?<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Thanks <u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black">Mark Schumann</span></b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black">Teacher of ICT and Multimedia<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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